My inspiration for this story was not singularly Neverwinter Nights. The impact of the Wailing Death was very similar to the Black Death in Europe, and therefore interrupted and ended many, many, lives.

This story is not about swords, sorcery and heroism, but of the man caught in the middle, or rather the boys. "The Chocolate War" and "The Masque of the Red Death" are among my favorite pieces of literature, and I suppose you could call them the inspiration as much as Neverwinter Nights.

Perhaps someday, I'll post a heroic story of epic battle and good vs. evil, but for now, I'd rather tell a tale untold, the tale of those poor citizens of Neverwinter.

Enjoy.

I climbed out of his bedroom window and into the street. The sweet smell of the bakery's bread and sweets seemed absolutely irresistible, and plagued me everyday as I walked solemnly to the schoolhouse. But I wouldn't stop, not today.

Neverwinter was as busy as ever this morning, as usual, nothing out of the ordinary today. Children would play, adults would work, older children went to school, soldiers trained, and so on. They would come home that evening, eat their fill of dinner, spend time with their families, rush off to bed, and then the process would start over again.

I wandered what would become of me in this never ending pace of the mundane. Others, like soldiers, lived far more interesting lives than I did. If I could be a soldier in the King's army….oh how wonderful. And….I would get to see the Lady Aribeth.

But even though my life seemed a small speck in the time continuum, I managed to keep myself sane. My parents constantly fought, providing me with an excuse to leave the house and let them destroy the furniture as they saw fit. Life in Neverwinter was boring, but occasionally one would see a magical duel, or an escaped prisoner, or a drunken bar fight, anything to stir up one's spirit.

Schoolwork and my "job" kept me busy most of the time. Jonce was a firm and strict teacher who believed in giving out assignments as often as he could.

That old prick…

But my job provided some excitement, and income, which I could spend at the Bakery, or at the bookstore if I had time to stop by. Perhaps it was not the most honorable trade one could deal in, but what did I care. I was making money and doing something I liked. Neverwinter was fraught with much larger crime than a small group of teenage boys. What business in their right mind would blame a stolen crate of merchandise on a group of fine, school going boys with well off families?

No one, that's who.

And how interesting we had a meeting this morning, Marto didn't usually call meetings this early in the week, perhaps he had found another job for us, or perhaps he was just being a jerk, that was after all, the two things he was best at.

Instead of heading up the hill towards the Plaza, and towards the schoolhouse, I turned right and kept walking. Jonce could shove his tardiness rules as far as I was concerned, he was second priority to my job.

I continued walking until I took another right, into a slew of buildings. God forbid we actually congregate in public for a change, after all, who would notice us?

I turned away from the main alley in between two buildings; I then began my routine descent into the alley's depths. I turned right, then left, then right again, then left again, then finally, I arrived in a hollow section amongst the buildings.

My friends, or "Co-Workers," were already here, and stationed around, awaiting instruction. Jinx came up behind me and held his knees, out of breath. Jinx was overweight a bit, and wasn't adept at running.

I looked around to see all the familiar faces I knew and admired. They were all bright eyed and bushy tailed for this morning's meeting. Jinx was far from it, and even I was a tad tired.

Sitting towards the back, on top of some old crates sat our assigner, Marto, Marto the bastard. He looked down at Jinx and myself and he grinned. That cheesy, fake grin… just another thing that made he dislike him.

Or did I really dislike him?

The others turned to watch him as he stood up and said, "Arkel, Jinx, so glad you could join us!" His voice was as impending yet still light and witty as ever.

"Sorry Marto…I'll…try to do better." Jinx said, still out of breath.

"What about you Arkel?" The bastard asked me.

"Sorry Mart, I'm not used to being required somewhere an hour before I'm supposed to come." I replied. My note said I was suppost to be here ten minutes from now.

Marto grinned his awul grin and stepped down from the crates. He was a slender, brown headed fellow of average height, not to different from the rest of us. But his appearance hid his true nature, his brilliance and his arrogance. He was very intelligent for his age, something he used to make us love and hate him.

"I know Jonce would throw a fit if some of you are late, so I'll be brief. Mr. Javitz has just imported nineteen crates full of Doss Tonic from Waterdeep."

Everyone looked around and whispered. Doss Tonic was famous for the buzz it gave you when you drank it down, even though it was suppost to be a healing potion.

"Can anyone tell me the street price of one Doss Tonic bottle?"

There was no answer for several seconds, finally, Nash raised his hand and said, "One bottle o' Doss Tonic'll cost you a good 153 gold!"

"Good job Nash!" Marto congratulated him. "Yes, 153 gold per bottle…nineteen crates full…think of it men, think of it."

Marto was addressing us like a king over his subjects, something I hated with a fiery passion, but I kept my mouth shut, he'd be done soon.

"I want everyone to meet tonight behind Javitz's shop tonight at midnight. Wear anything Black, and Jinx, bring that cart with you." Marto smiled at him, "If it's not too much trouble…"

"N…no! Never Marto!" Jinx spoke nervously, "I'll bring it for you! My dad will be asleep by then anyway!"

"Good! Then it's settled! We'll each keep a crate or so, and then sell it here in Neverwinter for a high price. Think of it men, just think of it."

Marto, you bastard. You did it again.

"Alright then! Dismissed!" Marto waved his hand to signal us dismissed from the meeting. Disgusted, I turned to leave. Some followed me, others, the school drop outs stayed with Marto.

We rushed to school as fast as we could, Jonce would have us all hung from the gallows if we weren't on time. "Marto….you bastard." I continued to mutter.

Jinx ran as fast as his legs would carry him, and still had to stop every few minutes.

We arrived late, and knew it fully. I clasped my hand on the doorknob to enter the schoolhouse and turned it slowly. The door creaked as I opened it, revealing it's inside.

Jonce was nowhere to be found.

Instead, classmates were gathering their books and preparing to leave. I stopped one of my classmates.

"What's going on? Where's Jonce? Why's everyone leaving?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear? Jonce is out sick today! We get a whole day off of school!"

"Jonce….out sick?"

"Yeah I know! I couldn't believe it either. It must be a doozy of a sickness to keep him out of school! Well, see you Arkel!" He ran through the door eager to get home.

Great.

Now I had to go home, to that house I hate so much, with no excuse to leave. But what troubled me most was Jonce's absence. I had seen him nearly pass out from coughing one week, but he never missed a day….what could have happened to him?

I turned and headed for home. As I left, I heard Jinx swear to himself, running wasn't his thing.

I had nothing to do but wait for tonight. Marto's plan would fall into place, and tomorrow Jonce would be back in school. Nothing unusual would happen.